Developing an integrated supercritical fluid biorefinery for the processing of grains

Abstract

With the rapid growth of the bioeconomy, there are major developments in the biorefinery concept to maximize utilization of renewable resources, including grains of cereals and oilseeds, targeting applications not only in food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products but also in biofuel, biochemical and biomaterial sectors. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) technology could have a major role to play in modern biorefineries. Know-how has been building on individual unit operations based on SC-CO2, especially extraction, fractionation and reactions involving lipids and particle formation for delivery of bioactives as summarized in this study mostly based on the previous work of the authors. Based on a solid understanding of fundamentals, the focus is now on optimal integration of these unit operations to build supercritical biorefineries. Such approaches should also consider integration of supercritical operations with conventional technologies for efficient and optimal process design. Even though the future of supercritical biorefineries seems to be bright, offering numerous advantages, there are also some substantial technical and economic challenges requiring further research.